Method of drying out masonry



March 6, 1928.

A. B. HASWELL METHOD OF DRYING OUT MASONRY Fil'ed June 29, 1927'Patentecl Mar. 6, 1928.

UNITED," STATES I 1,661,476 PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR B. HASWELL, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

mansion on DRYING our MASONRY.

Application filed .Tune 29, 1927. Serial No. 202,265.

This invention relates to an improved method for drying'out masonry.While not limited thereto, the method is particularly adapted fordrivingbli moisture from a 6 blast furnace heartlrwhile the same is inthe course of construction.

Heretofore, in the building of blast furnaces, it has been almostuniversal practice to lay up the brickwork course by course and 10 whenthe furnace was completed a fire has been built therein to dry out thehearth and other parts of the furnace asa whole. The

moisture carried by the water or cement used as a binder between thebricks in each course and the bricks in the adjacent courses isnaturally turned to steam. This results in spelling the brickwork andweakening the bondbetween the several bricks and courses of brick.

My improved method overcomes this disadvantageand results in'producing ablast furnace or other hearth whose life it is believed will bematerially lengthened.

The invention will be apparent from the following specification whenread in connection with the accompanying drawings and the novel featuresthereof will be pointed out with particularity in the appended claims.In the drawings- Fig. 2 is a vertical section on a small scale of partof a blast furnace built in accordance with my improved method;

Fig. 1 is an enlar ed horizontal section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1, theelectrical heating element, however, being shown diagrammatically Fig. 3is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the heating elementshown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 10 represents the bosh of a furnace and 12represents the hearth.

In building a furnace according to my improved method, a suitablefoundation is made and'I lay up thereon a first course of brickindicated at 14. On top of this I place a suitable heating elementindicated at 16. The heating element in the arrangement illustratedconsists of an electrical conductor bent in zig zag form designed tocover substantially the entire area of the course of brick forming thefirst layer of the hearth of the furnace. In order to reach the propertemperature with the voltage available, the strips may be so connectedas to form either one continuous circuit or they continuous circuitsconnected in parallel between the positive and negative cables 18and 20.As illustrated, supply cable 18 has connected thereto branches 2:2, 24and 26. Similarly, the supply cable 20 has connected therewith branches28, 30 and 82. This divides the heating element into three sec tionsindicated roughly by the dimension lines A,*B and C, the convolutions ofthese three sections being connected in parallel with the positive andnegative supply wires 18. and 20. On top of the first course of brick14, I next lay another course of brick indicated at 34. The electriccurrent is then turned on and the heating element is maintained inoperative condition throughout the building up of the successive layersof brick indicated at 36.

The resistance of the zigzaged electrical conductor is suflicient todrive off moisture from the mortar or cement as the work progresses.That is to say, each successive layer or course of brick is heated fromthe hot layer below and thus most of the moisture from each layer isdriven off before the next layer is placed on top of it. Thus, there isa continuous driving off of the moisture simultaneously with theconstruction of the furnace. In this way, the masonry is uniformly driedout or baked out as the work progresses. Hence, there is no spalling orwarping nor are any uneven internal stresses set upsuch as are producedin the methods heretofore in general use. The electric heaterillustrated may be formed of ordinary wire of round cross-section or itmay be of fiat ribbon-like wire formed as illustrated in Fig. 3. It maybe covered with a suitable cotton insulating material or it can beinsulated by the use of various insulating compounds known to thoseskilled in the art.

Various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the invention as defined in. the appended claims.

What I claim is 1. In the building of furnace hearths,

the method which consists in first laying a lower course of brick forthe hearth, secondly, placing a heater thereon, thirdly, laying a courseof brick over said heater and then continuing the work under influenceof said heater so that the moisture is driven from the structure as thework progresses.

Q. In the building of furnace hearths, the method which consists infirst laying a lower course of brick for the hearth, secondly, placingan electric heater thereon, thirdly, laying a course of brick over saidheater and then Continuing the work under infinence of said heater sothat the moisture is driven from the structure as the work progresses.

3. 1n the building of masonry structures, the method which includes theSteps of combining a heating element with the lower part of thestructure and operating the same to drive off moisture.

4. In the building of masonry structures,

ARTHUR B. ll A SWELL.

